Kallestra Skia
(( While this page will be kept up for reference, this member is no longer with us. :< )) Kallestra, Resident of The Shadow Hall, is a newer member of the Shadows who has quickly climbed in rank due to her assistance in protecting the injured Lady of Shadows, Ura. Since joining The Shadow Hall, she seems to have garnered the hatred of Rusco Gust. Character Description Olive-skinned and amber-eyed, Kallestra is tall and lean: a physique befitting a scout. She wears her auburn hair in a short ponytail tied with a white rag. Her hands are rough and callused, and scars crisscross her arms and legs. Kallestra always seems to be wearing her weathered and wore leather armor patched with scraps to keep it from falling apart. She is never without her dagger. A pentacle tattoo marks her left shoulder, though is it marred by two scars crossing over it. Kallestra has a habit chewing her bottom lip when she’s lost in thought or frustrated, as her often split-lip shows. She has a deep distrust of magic, believing arcanists of all stripes are by nature duplicitous and cruel. Even the most polite mage makes her uncomfortable. She claims to smell magic, though it always smells bad to her, and depending on the magic-user, the smell can range from burning shit to rotten eggs. If she's near magic-users for a long period of time, she will develop a migraine. She dabs a balm on her lips to help block the smells. All her life Kallestra has had a talent for being unseen. However, it seems exposure to shadow magic during her childhood increased this ability, and if she's concentrating, can stand only a few feet in front of an enemy without him or her ever noticing. While she is extremely skilled with a dagger, Kallestra's abilities in direct combat with swords and other weapons leaves much to be desired. This is a weakness she hopes to address someday. Also, Kallestra seems to have some knowledge of ritual magic, though she has no talent for it. She does not like to talk about where this knowledge comes from. She is a leatheworker by trade, and has some skill in taxodermy. Until recently, she was often accompanied by a brown steed called Ruffian. Character Biography Early Life Kallestra was only five years old when she became a disappointment to her mother. The girl was descended from a long line of witches, and was thought to be part of the next generation of cunning women whose loose-knit coven haunted the secret places of old Elwynn Forest. The women would meet occasionally to trade their knowledge of potions, divining, and invocations: the small magics of the rural human lands. Fate, though, had other ideas for Kallestra. The girl proved ungifted; her blood held no magic. She could not work even the simplest of cantrips. She remembers standing over a roiling cauldron and dropping strange ingredients (the finger bone of a priest; wolf’s tongue) into the brew as her mother frowned sternly down on her. That frown was worse than even her mother’s familiar who glared disapprovingly from the fire pit with glittering green eyes. When the Horde came and razed Grand Hamlet and the surrounding woods, her mother decided against fleeing north with the rest, and took Kallestra to live deep in the southern woodlands near the borders of Stranglethorn Vale. She learned to hunt, live off the land, and sneak around Horde troops though her fear and disgust of her mother grew. She barely spoke to the girl except to give orders. Those years between the First and Second Wars were lonely, and Kallestra wondered if she would ever see another human’s smile, or hear friendly voice again. It wasn’t long after humanity reclaimed Elwynn and started to rebuild that her mother was pregnant again (Light knows who the father was). She sent Kallestra to be fostered by an estranged uncle, a taxodermist in Darkshire. He was happy to take the girl in, and raise her away from the sister he despised and feared. He trained Kallestra in leatherworking and allowed her to work with the Nightwatch. In time, she became a capable scout. When her mother died, the last remnants of the coven sent for Kallestra. Most of the women were either killed by orcs or stayed north. Despite her ‘untalented’ status, it was tradition for the first born to light the pyre that would send a witch’s spirit into the Twisting Nether. She did what she was asked, and met her younger sister, Margalinde, for the first time. The young witch was everything Kallestra wasn’t, and everything their mother ever wanted in an heir. When Margalinde tried to speak with her, the years of rage at being abandoned, of being despised, erupted. She struck her sister and fled. Kallestra tarried in Darkshire only long enough to gather her blades and savings, and to say good-bye to her uncle. She left for Goldshire, hoping to find what work she could. The Shadow Hall Kallestra approached The Shadow Hall mostly out of a fear of poverty. A life of bounty hunting and peddling leather trinkets at market proved hard, and she found herself sleeping in the alleys of Stormwind most nights. Luckily Ura Blackstone took a shine to her, and life has improved overall for her since becoming a 'shadow'. Kallestra has developed a deep affection for Ayslinn Rae, though she does everything possible to guard her feelings toward the strange woman with the dwarven accent. Ayslinn's lover, Rusco Gust, however, seemed to have detected Kallestra as a rival and started stalking and threatening her. In an act of desperation, Kallestra performed a minor rite of blood magic, swearing that her soul would be bound to her bones if she ever attempted to woo Ayslinn from Rusco. Though Kallestra believed the ritual was only for show, she fully intended to fullfill her oath. However, she recently discovered Margalinde, who likes monitering her sister's activities though the tattoo they share, completed Kallestra's spell. Now the curse hangs over her, and her feelings are even more of a threat. Currently, Kallestra is traveling to Theramore to find work as a scout, and to help her fellow 'shadows' by keeping out of trouble until the situation with the Stormwind Guard is resolved.